TY - JOUR
T1 - A review on the durability of PVC sewer pipes
T2 - research vs. practice
AU - Makris, Konstantinos F.
AU - Langeveld, Jeroen
AU - Clemens, François H.L.R.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has become one of the dominant construction materials for sewer systems over the past decades, as a result of its reputed merits. However, since PVC sewer pipes have operated for decades in a hostile environment, concern over their longevity has been lately raised by sewer managers in the Netherlands. Towards that direction, the main factors and mechanisms that affect a PVC pipe’s lifetime are discussed in this article, along with the current lifetime prediction methods and their limitations. The review of relevant case studies indicates that material degradation, if any, occurs slowly. However, inspection (CCTV) data of three Dutch municipalities reveals that severe defects have already surfaced and degradation evolves at an unexpected fast rate. A main reason of this gap between literature and practice is the fact that comprehensive material testing of PVC sewer pipes is rarely found in the literature although it proves to be essential in order to trustfully assess the level of degradation and its origins.
AB - Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has become one of the dominant construction materials for sewer systems over the past decades, as a result of its reputed merits. However, since PVC sewer pipes have operated for decades in a hostile environment, concern over their longevity has been lately raised by sewer managers in the Netherlands. Towards that direction, the main factors and mechanisms that affect a PVC pipe’s lifetime are discussed in this article, along with the current lifetime prediction methods and their limitations. The review of relevant case studies indicates that material degradation, if any, occurs slowly. However, inspection (CCTV) data of three Dutch municipalities reveals that severe defects have already surfaced and degradation evolves at an unexpected fast rate. A main reason of this gap between literature and practice is the fact that comprehensive material testing of PVC sewer pipes is rarely found in the literature although it proves to be essential in order to trustfully assess the level of degradation and its origins.
KW - ageing
KW - degradation
KW - inspection data
KW - plastic pipes
KW - Polyvinyl chloride
KW - sewers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074052647&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15732479.2019.1673442
DO - 10.1080/15732479.2019.1673442
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074052647
VL - 16 (2020)
SP - 880
EP - 897
JO - Structure & Infrastructure Engineering
JF - Structure & Infrastructure Engineering
SN - 1744-8980
IS - 6
ER -